EARLY STAGE INNOVATIONS | 80HQTR23NOA01 23ESI B2

Opportunity Information: Apply for 80HQTR23NOA01 23ESI B2

NASA Headquarters, through its Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), issued the Early Stage Innovations (ESI) solicitation as an appendix under the broader NASA Research Announcement (NRA) called "Space Technology Research, Development, Demonstration, and Infusion 2023 (SpaceTech-REDDI-2023)." This ESI call is run by STMD's Space Technology Research Grants (STRG) Program and is aimed at pushing very early, high-upside ideas that could meaningfully change how space systems are built and operated. The central theme is not incremental improvement, but technology concepts that are disruptive or transformational and can credibly deliver large system-level benefits, such as major gains in performance, reductions in mass, lower costs, better reliability, simpler operations, or other clearly defined mission-relevant figures of merit. Proposals are expected to explain the system-level impact in a concrete way, not just describe an interesting component-level advance.

Eligibility is tightly focused on academia: only accredited U.S. universities may submit proposals. Collaboration and teaming are allowed, but NASA notes there are specific eligibility rules and teaming restrictions in the solicitation itself, so teams need to check compliance rather than assume any structure is acceptable. There are also limits on how many proposals a researcher can be involved in: a Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-Investigator (Co-I) may participate in no more than two submissions under this ESI call. NASA also signals an interest in broadening participation, explicitly encouraging proposals led by or submitted on behalf of tenure-track or tenured faculty across U.S. universities, with special encouragement for women, members of underrepresented minority groups, and persons with disabilities.

This particular ESI release is intentionally narrow in technical scope and will only consider proposals that directly address one of three stated topics. Topic 1 targets radiation-hardened photon-counting sensor technologies, which generally relates to detector and sensing approaches that can operate in harsh radiation environments while still achieving very high sensitivity and precision. Topic 2 focuses on improving the ability to predict plume-surface interaction environments during propulsive landings, a problem tied to landing dynamics where rocket exhaust interacts with soil, dust, regolith, or prepared pads, affecting safety, vehicle integrity, and nearby assets. Topic 3 seeks advances in refrigeration systems based on the elastocaloric effect, an alternative cooling approach that can potentially offer efficiency or architecture advantages compared to conventional refrigeration, and could be relevant to spacecraft thermal control or specialized mission needs. NASA notes that other topics may appear in future ESI appendices, but for this cycle only these three areas are in scope.

On funding and schedule, NASA expects to make about six awards, with the caveat that the final count depends on the quality and merit of the proposals received and that NASA reserves the right to make no awards if submissions do not meet the bar. Awards were planned to begin around mid-January 2024. The opportunity is listed as a discretionary grant in the science and technology/research and development category (CFDA 43.012). The listing shows an "Award Ceiling" of 0, which typically indicates that the ceiling is not specified in the summary record and applicants should rely on the solicitation text for budget guidance, constraints, and any funding limits.

A notable feature of this solicitation is its use of Dual-Anonymous Peer Review (DAPR). Under DAPR, reviewers do not know who the proposers are and proposers do not know who the reviewers are; importantly, the identities of proposing personnel and the proposing organization are withheld from reviewers until after the technical evaluation of the anonymized proposals is complete. The goal is to reduce the influence of unconscious bias and strengthen fairness in evaluation. Because DAPR depends on proper anonymization, proposers must follow specific formatting and content rules so the technical narrative does not reveal identities, institutions, or other indirect identifiers, and those detailed requirements are provided in the solicitation instructions.

Submissions must be made electronically via NSPIRES (NASA's proposal system) or through Grants.gov, and they must be submitted by an authorized organizational representative. A Notice of Intent was strongly encouraged and due June 7, 2023, while full proposals were due by July 6, 2023 at 5:00 pm Eastern. NASA also advises institutions to make sure registration and system access are in place well ahead of time and not wait until the deadline, since NSPIRES setup and grants submission steps can be time-consuming.

For questions, NASA directs technical and programmatic inquiries to the Space Technology Research Grants Program Executive at hq-esi-call@mail.nasa.gov. Responses may be provided by email and may also be folded into publicly posted FAQ materials associated with the solicitation in NSPIRES, with anonymity for questioners preserved. The full opportunity can be found by searching NSPIRES solicitations for "Early Stage Innovations (ESI23)" under the open opportunities.

• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA Headquarters in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "EARLY STAGE INNOVATIONS" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 43.012.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 04, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 06, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 6 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for 80HQTR23NOA01 23ESI B2

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